9.

1 Causes, effects and preventive measures of water logging

An agricultural field is said to be water logged if its productivity decreases due to rise in the
water table and water remains in the field for long period of time. Since, the root zone of
the plant remains flooded for longer period of time plant dies due to poor aeration of the
root zone.
Causes of water logging
❑ Over and intensive irrigation
❑ Seepage of water from adjoining high land
❑ Seepage of water through the canal
❑ Impervious obstruction
❑ Inadequate natural drainage
❑ Inadequate surface drainage
❑ Excessive rain
❑ Submergence due to flood
❑ Irregular or flat topography
Effects of water logging
❑ Normal cultivation operations like tilling and ploughing becomes very difficult.
❑Water loving plants grow profusely in water logged areas interfering growth of
crops. (growth of unwanted plants like water hyacinth and water weeds)
❑ Water logging also leads to salinity.
❑ Restricted root growth
❑ Reduced soil temperature
Preventive measures of water logging:
A) Reduce percolation from irrigation canals
- Lining of canals
- Lowering of FSL of the canal
- Providing intercepting drains along the canals
B) Encouraging economical use of water
- Educating cultivators
- Changing crop pattern
- Changing revenue policy
C) Increasing outflow from the ground water reservoir(sub surface drainage)
- Providing subsurface drainage system
- Improving natural drainage of the area
- Regular pumping of the groundwater
 Methods of reclaiming water logged land
1.Proper Drainage System
Farmers should have adequate surface drainage facilities to remove excess
water from their fields. The surface runoff and subsoil drainage of water
should not be so slow. During rainy season efforts should be made not to
retain water on soil surface.
2.Using Tube Wells
A tube well is an ideal device to lower the level of water in water logged
areas. Tube wells have the capability to draw out of the earth large
quantities of water continuously. It is a good technique to reclaim water
logged areas by installing tube wells.
3.Lining of Canals
In order to minimize water logging, concrete lining of canals and other
water channels should be done. It will be helpful not only in controlling
water logging but also in saving useful irrigation water.
• 4. Water Management
Farmers should be educated about water management. Use of excessive
irrigation water for cultivation of certain crops should be avoided. Modern
irrigation techniques like drip irrigation should be adopted.
5. Tolerant Crops
Crops like rice, oats, etc should be preferred in water logged areas. Because
rice require more moisture for its growth.
6. Tolerant Trees
Trees like Eucalyptus, willows, etc should be planted in water logged areas
because of its high moisture requirement
Salinity of soil
The process of increasing the salt concentration of soil is called as salinity of soil.
The harmful salts are:
a)Sodium carbonate
High concentration and very harmful.
Also called as black alkali
a)Sodium chloride
b)Sodium sulphate
•Maximum permissible salt concentration for crop production is 3000 ppm
Effloresence
•The formation of white patches on ground surface after evaporation of water form water
containing salts that comes up during water logging is called as efflorescence.
Reclamation of soil: It is the process by which an unfit land is made fit for cultivation.
Leaching: It is the process by which the soil is made free from salts by washing it off with
water. Generally gypsum is added in leaching water.
9.2 Drainage of irrigated land
• Removal or control of excess water either on the surface soil or in the root
zone beneath the soil is called drainage.
• Necessity of drainage
❑ Removal of excess irrigated water
❑ Drain out storm water effectively and prevent percolation

Types of drainage system

Surface drainage
Shallow drainage and deep drainage
Sub-surface drainage
9.3 Surface drainage systems and their design
• Surface drainage is the process of removal of excess rainwater falling
on the fields or excess irrigated water by constructing open ditches,
field drains and other structures.
Shallow water drain
▪ Designed to remove excess irrigated water and rainfall.
▪ Normally trapezoidal in shape
▪ Manning’s and chezzy’s equation is used to design

Deep water drain

Dug up to the level of ground water table.
 Methods of surface drainage:
1) Shallow surface drain
2) Deep surface drain or outlet drain
3) French drain
4) Surface inlet
5) Bedding

French drain
 Design consideration of surface drainage
There are different assumptions in designing the drainage system
in Terai and Hilly region. There assumptions are useful in
determining the required drainage discharge.
Assumptions in Terai Region:
• Rainfall with return period of 5 to 10 years should be considered.
• Initial water level in the field = 40mm
• Maximum allowable water level = 300mm which remains for 24 Rainfall(P3)
hours
• Depth in excess of 200mm may remain for 3 days
• Evaporation and transpiration is neglected
• Irrigation inflows are neglected.
• P3=cumulative yearly maximum rainfall for consecutive 3 days.
Drainage discharge(Q)
Applying water balance equation,
h = 40 + P3∗t /3 - Q*t
Q= outflow flow discharge in mm/day General form of eqn:
h = hi + P3∗t /3 - Q*t
Where, hi= initial depth of water in the field
P3=consecutive 3 days cumulative rainfall
t= no. of days under consideration

Design the capacity of surface drainage of Terai region for the

field having rainfall intensity of P3=450 mm, area of the field is
30 ha.
Now, the surface drainage system should be
designed for the capacity of 0.226 m3/s
Assumptions for hilly region:
• Rainfall with return period of 5 to 10 years is considered.
• Initial water level in the field = 40mm
• Maximum of 100 mm depth of water is allowed for 1 day
• Evaporation and transpiration loss are neglected.
•Irrigation flows are neglected
Equation used is:
h=40 + P –Q
Where, P=yearly maximum rainfall
Q=drainage discharge rate in mm/day
6.4 Sub-surface drainage system and their design
Sub surface drainage is obtained by reducing the ground water table by
constructing structures underground. Tile drains are widely used.
Advantages
• Reduction in water logging
• Removes the gravity free water
• Increases air circulation
• Increases bacterial activity
• Reduces soil erosion

Depth of tile drains

• The drains are spaced in such a distance as to be capable of lowering
the water table sufficiently below the root zone of the plant
• For most plants the top point of WT must be at least 1.0 to 1.5m below
the GL
• The tile drains is placed at 0.3m below the desired highest level of WT
Spacing of drains derivation:
Let ‘s’ be spacing between the drains.
‘a’ be the depth of impervious stratum from center of drain.
‘b’ be maximum height of lowered water table above impervious stratum.
At any distance ‘x’ from center of drain let the height of water table be ‘y’
• Drainage coefficient(DC):
The rate at which water is removed by the drain is called the drainage
coefficient. It is expressed by depth of water in ‘cm’ or ’m’ to be
removed in 24 hours from the drainage area.
Size of drains:
The drains are designed using Manning’s formula to carry the drainage
discharge. Slope of drain is usually 0.5 to 3%
10 to 15 cm diameter drains are usually used.
Numerical
1) A tile drainage system draining 12 hectares flows at design capacity
for 2 days, following a storm. If the system is designed using DC of
1.25 cm, how may cubic meter of water will be removed during this
period?
2) In a tile drainage system, the drains are laid with their centers 1.5 m
below the ground level. The impervious layer is 9m below the
ground level and the average annual rainfall in the area is 80 cm. If
1% of the annual rainfall is to be drained in 24 hrs to keep the
highest position of water table to 1m below ground level,
determine the spacing of the drain pipes. Coefficient of
permeability is 0.001 cm/sec.
QN2 QN1